Mine Explosions Not So Deadly in 1941

DEFINITE improvement in its accident fatality rate in the coal-mining industry was recorded during 1941, based on preliminary figures for the period from January through October. Total production during this ten-month period was approximately 91 percent of the total production in all of 1940. The ten-month accident rate for both bituminous and anthracite mining in 1941 was 2.15 killed per million tons of coal mined, compared with a rate of 2.66 for the full year of 1940. The bituminous rate decreased from 2.55 in 1940 to 1.99 in ten months of 1941, and the anthracite rate from 3.62 to 3.53 in similar periods. The decrease is more apparent for the bituminous branch of the industry, as the high figure in 1940 was due to seven major disasters which brought death to 276 men. The same number of major explosions during ten months of 1941 caused only 64 lives to be lost. The severity of the explosions has been lower this year but a definite need still exists for reduction in this type of accident.